Garstang
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Garstang is a small town in the county of Lancashire in the North of England, located within the borough of Wyre. Historically in the Amounderness Hundred, it is situated on the A6 between Lancaster and Preston, a short distance from Knott End-on-Sea and Myerscough College. The River Wyre runs through the town. Garstang is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Cherestanc. King Charles II is alleged to have spent the night in a town centre pub during the English Civil War.
The town celebrates an arts festival and an agricultural show in August. In November 2001 Garstang declared itself "the world's first Fairtrade Town", influencing many other towns, cities and counties around the UK to work towards the same goal. The Fairtrade Town status was renewed by the Fairtrade Foundation on August 13, 2003. The local newspaper the Garstang Courier is available on tape free of charge to blind and partially sighted people from Galloway's Society for the Blind. Galloway's Society for the Blind Garstang won the Small Town award in the 2005 Britain in Bloom awards. The town is overlooked by the ruined remains of Greenhalgh Castle, built in 1490 by Thomas Stanley First Earl of Derby.
Garstang is a local centre for trade, business and entertainment. The town centre features a variety of small shops. Some of these are family businesses going back generations, others are smaller shops that come and go on a regular basis. There are also three supermarkets in the town. One of the main attractions of the town are the many and varied pubs in the town centre. The Crown and Wheatsheaf are modern pubs, the Kings Arms, Eagle and Child and Royal Oak are more traditional venues. Slighly out of town there is the historical Tithe Barn Pub and the Farmers Arms. The Wheatsheaf has become know as a local gay-friendly pub, and all pubs occassionally host live entertainment.
[edit] External links
- community website from the Garstang and District Chamber of Trade and Commerce
- Garstang Fair Trade Town
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